Calender roll support for textile machines



1968 J. R. WHITEHURST CALBNDER ROLL SUPPORT FOR TEXTILE MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 9, 1966 III ll 1 II II H H II II III W IIIIII g\\\\ 11TH! I! ll H II I II II INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS 1968 J. R. WHITEHURST 3,409,947

CALENDER ROLL SUPPORT FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed May 9, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1?. 5| 5O 45 6/ es INVENTOR. J6E- RWmTEHURs-T ATTORNEY 5 United States Patent 3,409,947 CALENDER ROLL SUPPORT FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Joe R. Whitehurst, Bessemer City, N.C., assignor to Ideal Industries, Inc., Bessemer City, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed May 9, 1966, Ser. No. 548,696 Claims. (Cl. 19--236) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Resilient means for supporting opposite ends of a pair of cooperating calender rolls so as to dampen the transmission of vibrations between the calender rolls and associated components of a draw frame and to also compensate for misalignment of the slide blocks supporting opposite ends of the calender rolls.

This invention relates generally to an improved bearing support for the cooperating front and rear calender rolls of a textile machine, such as a drawing frame.

In the conventional drawing frame, opposite ends of the front or top calender roll and the rear or bottom calender roll are provided with bearing means rotatably supported in metal-to-metal contact with support blocks formed on the front ends of cast slide stands. As the calender rolls rotate, vibrations are easily transmitted between the calender rolls and the bearing support blocks. This vibration becomes objectionably excessive, particularly on high speed drawing frames.

The bearing means on the opposite ends of the rear calender roll are fixedly supported in bores in the support blocks while opposite ends of the front calender roll are supported in metal bearing housings Which are carried by the bearing support blocks for movement away from the rear calender roll in the event a lap-up occurs on either of the calender rolls.

The bearing support blocks are cast integral with the front portions of the drawing frame slide stands and the bearing seats forming the bores for the rear calender roll are accurately milled in the support blocks so that they are perfectly aligned when the slide stands are installed. However, due to aging and seasoning of the castings or to settling of the drawing frame, the support blocks may move relative to each other so that alignment of the bores is not maintained and the bearing means on opposite ends of the back calender roll are then subject to binding and excessive wear.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a main object of the present invention to provide an improved bearing support means for the cooperating front and rear calender rolls of a draw frame which overcomes the above-noted excessive vibration of the conventionally supported calender rolls and which also permits the bores to move out of alignment without binding the bearing means on the back calender roll.

To this end, a resilient sleeve of neoprene rubber is provided on the bearing means at each end of the rear calender roll to dampen vibrations normally transmitted between the back calender roll and the support block and to also provide adjustment for any variation in alignment of the corresponding bores in the support block. Also, the bearing housings at each end of the front calender roll are formed of vibration dampening plastic material to absorb vibrations that would normally be transmitted between the front calender roll and the support block.

Some of the objects having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- 3,409,947 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 ice FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view through the upper front portion of a drawing frame and illustrating the manner in which the front and rear calender rolls cooperate with adjacent portions of the drawing frame;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the calender rolls, with portions broken away, and illustrating the manner in which opposite ends are supported on the support blocks; I

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of one support block, looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the support block and bearing support means for the calender rolls, being taken substantially along line 4-4 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through the bearing housing and illustrating the manner in which the bearing means of the front calender roll is supported therein, being taken substantially along the line 55 in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is an exploded isometric view similar to FIGURE 3, with some parts broken away and some parts omitted for clarity.

The improved calender roll bearing support of the present invention is shown positioned on each end of the smooth calender rolls of a double delivery drawing frame, however, it is to be understood that the improved bearing support could also be utilized with fluted or other types of calender rolls, as well as on single delivery type drawing frames. Only those portions of the drawing frame have been shown which are necessary to an understanding of the present invention.

As is well known, each drafting section of a draw frame includes a plurality of spaced apart upper drafting rolls 10 (FIGURE 1) and a cooperating set of lower drafting rolls 11 which are normally supported in slide blocks for longitudinal adjustment on slide stands 12. The slide stands 12 are spaced along the main support frame 13 and the forward end of the endmost slide stands 12 have integrally formed bearing support blocks formed thereon. The bearing support blocks are broadly indicated at 15 and 15' in FIGURE 2 and are adapted to support opposite ends of the respective front and rear calender rolls 16, 17, in a manner to be presently described.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the individual slivers S are fed between the upper and lower drafting rolls 10, 11 and guided forwardly to form a flat drafted web W which is formed into a single sliver S that is guided into a trumpet 20. The drafted sliver S passes between the front and rear calender rolls 16, 17, and then through a coiler head mechanism 21 to be fed into a coiler can 22, in a well known manner. Each end of each of the calender rolls 16, 17 is supported in the same manner and only the support means. at the right-hand end of the calender rolls 16, 17, asshown in FIGURE 2, will be described in detail. Corresponding parts of the support means at the left-hand end will bear like reference characters with the prime notation added.

The end portion of the rear calender roll 17 supported and is mounted for rotation within roller bearings 23, 24, which are fixedly connected together by a roller neck sleeve 25 (FIGURE 6). The roller neck sleeve 25 loosely surrounds calender roll 17 in spaced relation (FIG. 4) and is normally adapted to fit into a lower concave bearing seat 27 in the bearing support block 15 to thus support the calender roll 17. The bearing seat 27 is normally milled in the support block 15 to contact the lower peripheral surface of the roller neck sleeve 25 and make a metal-to-metal contact therewith. The roller neck sleeve 25 is held in position against the surface of the concave bearing seat 27 by means of a hold-down block 30 which is provided with a mating concave bearing seat 31 on its lower surface. The bearing seat 31 is adapted to 'normally engage the upper pe ripheral surface of the roller neck sleeve and make metal-to-metal contact therewith. The hold-down block is removably held in position on the support block 15 by means of a threaded screw 33 (FIGURE 4) which penetrates the support block 15 and is threadably embedded in the hold-down block 30.

The end of the front calender roll 16 is provided with a roller bearing 35 (FIGURE 5) which is secured in position in a bearing housing, broadly indicated at 36. The bearing housing 36 is normally formed of metal and is provided with an inclined rear surface 37, an inclined front surface 38 and a curved lower surface 39. The curved lower surface 39 is adapted to fit an arcuate bearing seat 40 in the support block 15 and is adapted to fit against an inclined bearing surface 41 (FIGURE 6) in the forward end of the bearing support block 15. The rear inclined surface 37 of the bearing housing 36 fits against an inclined front bearing surface 43 on the holddown block 30. It will be noted that the bearing housing 36 is about half as wide as the bearing support block 15 and a fixed filler block 46 is suitably supported in the outer portion of the bearing seat surfaces 40, 41.

The right-hand end of the rear calender roll 17 (FIG- URE 2) is provided with a drive gear 50, to which rotation is imparted by the conventional drive mechanism of the draw frame. The calender roll 17 is also provided with a drive gear 51 (FIGURE 2) which is in driving engagement with a gear 53 fixed on the front calender roll 16. Thus, when rotation is imparted to the drive gear 50, both the front and rear calender rolls 16, 17 will be driven by means of the drive gears 51, 53.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, the bearing housing 36 of the front calender roll 16 .is resiliently held in the proper seated position in the support block 15 by means of a pin 55 (FIGURES 2 and 3), the outer portion of which overlies the upper surface of the bearing housing 36. The inner end of the pin 55 is fixed in the medial portion of a hold-down lever 56, the rear end of which is pivotally supported on the hold-down block 30, as at 57 and the free front end of which is resiliently held down by a tension spring 58. The upper end of the tension spring 58 is suitably connected to the lever 56 and the lower end is suitably connected to a latch plunger 60, the medial portion of which is supported in a notch in a latch support plate 61.

Thus, the spring 58, lever 56 and pin 55 normally maintain the front calender roll 16 in the position shown in FIGURE 1 (relative to the rear calender roll 17).

Should a lap-up occur on either of the calender rolls,

the bearing housing 36 will be forced up the inclined surfaces 41, 43 against the action of the tension spring 58, so that the front calender roll 16 moves upwardly and away from the rear calender roll 17 to thereby prevent damage to the rolls.

I The foregoing parts heretofore described are conventional parts of a drawing frame and it is with this type of drawing frame that the present improved calender roll bearing support means is particularly adapted for use. In accordance with the present invention, a resilient sleeve (FIGURES 4 and 6) is positioned on the roller neck 25. The resilient sleeve 65 is preferably formed of neoprene rubber material that dampens the vibration between the rear calender roll 17 and support block 15. The resilient sleeve 65 also permits warping of the support block 15 while preventing misalignment of the bearings 23, 24 and roller neck sleeve 25 at each end of the rear calender roll 17.

In the event the support blocks 15, 15 warp, the roller neck receiving bores (defined by the concave lower and upper bearing seats 27, 31) will move out of axial alignment and the resilient sleeve 65 must be of sufficient thickness to accommodate any amount of misalignment that might occur. It has been found that a resilient sleeve having a wall thickness of about ,6 of an inch is suflicient 4 to take'care of the amount of Warping that might normally occur in the support blocks 15, 15'. The resilient sleeve 65 also permits the bores at each end of the rear calender roll 17 to move out of alignment in the event the drawing frame settles.'For example, the main support frame 13 (FIGURE 1) may become twisted if the floor does not remain level. Of course, if the main support frame 13 is twisted, the support blocks 15, 15 and th bores move out of alignment.

The bearing seats 27, 31 are milled out to a greater degree than they would be if the resilient sleeve 65 were not used. When the hold-down block 30 (FIGURE 4) is secured in position, the bearing seats 27, 31 engage the outer surface of the sleeve 65 and slightly compress the same. Thus, warpingv of either of the support blocks 15, 15' can occur without forcing the roller neck 25 to move out of alignment or without putting undue strain on the same.

Also, in accordance with the present invention, the bearing housing 36 is formed of vibration dampening plastic material such as acetal resin of the type currently sold under the name Delrin, a trademark of E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Co. The upper surface of the hearing housing 36 is preferably provided witha groove to receive a metal bearing plate 67 which is held in position by a screw 68. The plate 67 provides a metal bearing surface for the pin 55 in the'hold-down lever 56 (FIG- URE 3). The plastic bearing housing 36 is held in position on the roller bearing 35 by means of a set screw 70 (FIGURES 5 and 6). The plastic bearing housing dampens the vibrations between the front calender roll 16 and the support block 15.

Thus, the present improved calender roll support means dampens vibrations between both the calender rolls and the support blocks and also prevents damage to the bearings of the rear calender roll, due to warping of the slide stands and support blocks as they age and season.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. Improved bearing support means for the rear calender roll of a draw frame including metal roller neck sleeves having bearings fixedly connected to opposite ends thereof and being mounted on opposite ends of said rear calender roll for rotatively supporting the calender roll with the sleeves in spaced relation to the calender roll,

castcalender roll support blocks at each end of said cal-..

ender roll, and having bores therein normally adapted to straddle said roller neck sleeves between said bearingsfor receiving and fixedly supporting said roller neck sleeves in the bores, said cast support blocks being subject to movement relative to each other to cause the bores therein to move out of proper alignment, said improved bearing support means comprising a sleeve surrounding each of said metal roller neck sleeves of said rear calender roll and consisting essentially of resilient material, the outer surface of said resilient sleeves being in engagement with the bores in said support blocks, said resilient sleeves being of sufficient thickness to accommodate any.

misalignment of the bores through movement of said support blocks and reducing the transmission of vibrations. between said rear calender roll and said support blocks. 2. In an improved bearing support according to claim 1 wherein said resilient sleeve is formed of neoprene rubber.

3. In an improved bearing support according to claim 2 wherein said resilient sleeve has a wall thickness on. the

order of about five sixty-fourths of an inch.

4. Improved bearing support means for the cooperating front and rear calender rolls of a draw frame including metal roller neck sleeves having bearings fixedly connected to opposite ends thereof and being mounted on opposite ends of said rear calender roll for rotatively supporting the calender roll with the sleeves in spaced relation to the calender roll, bearing means on opposite ends of said front calender roll, cast calender roll support blocks at each end of said calender roll and having bores therein normally adapted to straddle said roller neck sleeves between said bearings for receiving and fixedly supporting said roller neck sleeves in the bores, said cast support blocks being subject to movement relative to each other to cause the bores therein to move out of proper alignment, and said cast support blocks at each end of said front calender roll and having bearing seats therein with angularly inclined side walls, said improved bearing support means comprising (a) a sleeve surrounding said metal roller neck sleeves of said rear calender roll and consisting essentially of resilient material, the other surface of said resilient sleeve being in engagement with the bores in said support blocks, said resilient sleeves being of sufiicient thickness to accommodate any misalignment of the bores through'movement of said support blocks, said resilient sleeves also reducing the transmission of vibrations between said rear calender roll and said support blocks, and (b) a bearing housing supporting said bearing means at each end of said front calender roll, said bearing housings consisting essentially of vibration dampening plastic material and being supported in said bearing seats of said support blocks, said bearing housings having angularly inclined walls corresponding with the side walls of the 'bearing seats in said support blocks, said plastic bearing housings reducing the transmission of vibrations between said front calender roll and said support blocks.

5. Improved bearing support means for the front calender roll of a draw frame including bearing means on opposite ends of said front calender roll, calender roll support blocks at each end of said front calender roll and having bearing seats therein with angularly inclined side walls, said improved bearing support means comprising a bearing housing supporting said bearing means at each end of said front calender roll, said bearing housings consisting essentially of vibration dampening plastic material and being supported in said bearing seats, and serving to reduce the transmission of vibrations between said front calender roll and said support blocks, said bearing housings having angularly inclined walls corresponding with the side walls of the bearing seats in said support blocks, a metal bearing plate fixedly positioned on the upper surface of each of said bearing housings, and means resiliently engaging said metal bearing plates to normally maintain said bearing housings in seated position in said support blocks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 551,028 12/1895 Canning 19-24 2,222,491 11/ 1940 Scribner 308-239 2,757,988 8/1956 Lecourbe 308-36.19 XR 3,188,152 6/ 1965 Miller 308-238 XR 3,300,257 1/ 1967 Selker et a1. 308-238 XR 3,331,642 7/1967 Krauss 308238 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 20,432 1893 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. DORSEY NEWTON, Assistant Examiner. 

